Hegemony Vs Pluralism

Hegemony is defined as dominance by one group over another, leading to political control (Clark 2002). By protecting traditional copyright through legal and technological means, copyright industries are maintaining a technological and cultural hegemony. Law only works for those with the resources to make it work (Lessig 2004 p.305). Traditionally, home copying was not a big issue to the market, but now that it is perceived as such, attempts have been made to impose restriction to prevent any possibility of breaking copyright.

The revenue raised has come to define the success of a particular piece of music, the opening weekend figures to define the relative worth of a film. This is to measure quality using quantitative methods, and has served to commodify artistic creation (Hardcastle 2000 p.11). There is also an argument to say that the current business model is too large and inflexible to change (Boyle 2008 pp.185-194; Shirkey 2010)

Pluralism recognises the diversity of public opinion. If Lessig’s Read / Write culture is accepted cultural practice, it should be recognised by law. The majority of people do not see this as a problem – we have bought the right to listen to a piece of music or watch a film, we should be allowed to do so in whatever format we choose. We should also have the freedom to respond in kind, to use small sections of that work to create something new, just as all other artists have in the past. There is the demand for a system that allows this flexibility that is not currently being allowed.